


Nearsighted

by kingburu



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24527773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingburu/pseuds/kingburu
Summary: Five times Jason Grace lost his glasses and one time he didn't.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Jason Grace
Comments: 5
Kudos: 165





	Nearsighted

**Author's Note:**

> A prompt from [fimyuan](http://fimyuan.tumblr.com) back in 2014: "jasico, Jason can't find his glasses bc they r on his head"

this changed into **Five Times Nico Helped Jason with His Glasses + 1** because the prompt stimulated a short answer HAHAHA;; 

The song that they’re singing is [Young Volcanoes ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XUjmkrSe8)by **Fall Out Boy**

and the five times are loosely based off this part in the text 

**I.**

“Morning, Nico.” Jason steps into Hades’ Cabin after knocking tentatively. His voice is loud, but only because he’s excited that Nico decided to stay at Camp Halfblood.

Nico groans in a coffin in the far corner of the room, but doesn’t move out of bed. He wiggles under the blankets and says nothing else.

With careful steps, Jason opens the door a little wider and feels his heart skip a beat. “It’s time to wake up.”

“I’m asleep,” Nico responds despondently. He curls into a ball, and supposedly that’s the end of their conversation.

“Breakfast starts soon,” Jason says. “And I know you’re awake, Reyna says you snore in your sleep.” He doesn’t pry through Nico’s things for a shirt because he respects Nico’s privacy, but he _is_ worried about anyone who isn’t willing to wake up with the sun.

Son of Hades included.

“I don’t eat breakfast,” Nico mumbles from under blankets. “And I don’t snore.”

“Nico,” Jason warns.

“Jason.” And then Nico sits up right. He pulls out of the coffin like a vampire, minus the arms crossed over his torso, and stares at Jason irritably.

Jason may be bigger, but he still fleets away when Nico’s forehead practically smacks into his own.

Dark hair shoots in awkward angles more than usual, Nico’s face entirely groggy. Although he’s tired, Nico looks more _awake_ than he usually is. He glares at Jason carefully, and Jason’s heart sinks momentarily.

“C’mere,” Nico grumbles, eyes suddenly closing.

With a gulp, Jason steps forward. He puts on his best leader voice, and says, “Nico, campers are up when—”

Brittle fingers touch Jason’s temples, curling over the legs of his glasses. With one swift move, Nico readjusts them over Jason’s face.

“They were crooked,” Nico grumbles.

Oh.

“I’m sleeping now.” Then Nico proceeds to collapse back in bed—in a fit of snores.

Huh.

“Okay, then,” Jason whispers quietly.

**II.**

Jason doesn’t remember much of his dream. He knows there were hands, there were shy touches, and there were smiles. He remembers the feeling of his heart shooting fireworks of joy in his chest, the sweet sound of love as it brings him to the top of the world, and the knot of someone else’s hand anchoring him down, _grounding_ him, before he can float off into nothingness.

It tugs on him, until Jason’s mind breaches the entrance of consciousness. Light flutters into his line of vision, the clashing silhouettes of shadows and shapes creating the image of the Dining Pavilion around him. He yawns, sitting upright at his table, and finds Nico’s hand on his shoulder.

“Hi, Sleepy,” Nico murmurs both quietly and teasingly. It’s hard to get when Nico is joking sometimes, but Jason has a warm joy for catching Nico’s sense of humor.

“Was I drooling?” Jason grumbles, and Percy swiftly kicks him on the other side of the table.

“No,” Nico assures, “but you need to start going to bed earlier.”

Percy looks at him in disbelief, like Nico’s grown a second head. “Coming from _you?_ ”

“Yes, me,” Nico snaps back with ire. He rolls his eyes and Percy only breaks into a grin. “You missed out on most of the events during dinner. I think you’re better off calling it a— _Jason._ ”

“Mm?” Jason snaps upright again and yawns.

“You fell asleep again, bro,” Percy muses, but he looks concerned.

“I’ll walk you back to your cabin,” Nico says, and that’s the final decision.

Jason supposes he hasn’t gotten very much sleep in the past few weeks. He keeps having dreams where he’s happy and free as a bird, then others where he’s stuck in his father’s domain, flying forever without a place to land, and without a nest to call home.

It’s the latter that scares Jason the most, but he hasn’t been able to talk about it. Jason would rather leave his cabin earlier in the morning to take his mind off of things than dwell on the fact that he’s afraid of his own domain, his father, and his home.

“Jason,” Nico says, and his voice is sharper. Nico places a hand on Jason’s shoulder once more, and it makes Jason’s heart tremble.

“Sorry,” Jason apologizes sincerely. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes. “Just…let me find my glasses…”

He feels around on the table for a moment, groping the wooden surface. From the corner of his blurry vision, Jason catches Percy sniggering. Then, Jason looks over to Nico, arches an eyebrow—and Nico rolls his eyes in return.

“Here.” Nico reaches for the crown of Jason’s head, yanks away Jason’s imperial gold glasses, and waves them in front of Jason’s face. “You slept with them on your head.”

“Oh.” Jason’s cheeks burn darkly. He reaches out to grab hold of the glasses, yet Nico is already one step ahead of him.

Nico unfolds the pair and smoothly places them over Jason’s eyes. Comfortably.

With his vision clear, Jason sees Nico’s face up close—pale flesh that’s slowly coming back to life, and dark hair that Jason just wants to run his hands through because it looks irresistibly _soft._ Nico’s madman eyes stare up to him, peculiar and beautiful as usual, and he smiles beautifully. Only for a moment.

Percy clears his throat. Nico wrinkles his nose.

“I’ll walk back myself,” Jason says.

“You sure?” Nico sounds disappointed. Jason wants to say _no_ and have Nico come with him, but Jason mind is in a different place and walking together would just be quiet and awkward.

“Rain check,” Jason says, and he pushes his glasses up his nose with a smile.

Nico looks uncertain, but nods back. “Rain check.”

**III.**

Nico materializes next to Jason, dressed in the red team’s gear—the chest plate, shin guards, and helm fitted with a red plume. Jason almost doesn’t _recognize_ him because of the plume, so he jumps out of instinct.

“Dude,” Jason yelps, and Nico offers him a smug smirk. Nico isn’t one to gloat or brag, but Jason thinks Nico gets a joy out of scaring him. _Just_ him.

Jason knows Nico gets frustrated when others glance at him in fear, thinking he hasn’t noticed. It hurts Nico a lot. But Jason thinks Nico _knows_ Jason wants nothing more than to be _close friends_.

And what better way for a guy of 6’1” faltering at the presence of someone who’s nearly half his size?

“You’re short,” Jason breathes before he can help himself.

“Excuse you?” For a moment, Nico looks genuinely offended, but he shakes his head and laughs softly under his breath.

It’s music to Jason’s ears, and he grins from cheek-to-cheek—before realizing Piper and the rest of the Aphrodite Cabin is staring at them.

Piper smirks at Jason knowingly, and he has to duck his head to hide his blush. Even Mike Kahale, who’s in Long Island for the weekend, grins at the old praetor. They fistbump, making the Aphrodite Cabin look the most fearsome for the game.

(They’ve done a lot to improve the combative skills of Cabin 10—Jason can hardly believe it. But instead of just conforming with celestial bronze daggers and swords, they have perfectly concealed thread, celestial bronze _stilettos_ , tear gas foundation powder, lipstick knives, and all of these other things Kahale has tapped into thanks to his “feminine side.” )

“What’s the plan, boss?” Nico muses—but it’s mostly said with deadpan. He sounds annoyed and tired, but Jason knows he’s actually having fun.

Jason decides to pull Nico aside later and say, _I told you you’d have fun._

“Stop grinning like that,” Nico quickly follows, which makes Jason jump again.

“The Ares Cabin is probably planning to ambush us in the trees. Little do they know, Aphrodite Cabin has stealthier weapons.” Jason nods his head to Piper, who grins. “And Hephaestus Cabin has probably lain out a lot of booby traps. Connor—didn’t you steal a land mine once?”

“Three, actually,” Connor reports in between eating Cheetos and graham crackers.

“I still don’t know how you stole an _active_ landmine.” Annabeth isn’t a stickler for the rules like Jason tends to be, but the _possibility_ of Connor Stoll being able to steal an active landmine clearly amazes her. “Hermes Cabin and Athena Cabin will work together defusing the bomb. Lou Ellen and the Hecate Cabin will lead the efforts to get the prisoners out.”

“I’ll go straight for the flag from above, so I’ll need a lot of cover from below,” Jason recounts.

Annabeth eyes him warily. “And Nico is on patrol to keep Jason and Percy from destroying camp.”

Nico snorts. Jason smiles sheepishly.

“And… _break!_ ”

Jason takes for the sky, hovering close enough to see Nico shadowtravel from tree-to-tree towards the lake. The rest of their team is already at work, and Jason can hear cries from the Ares Cabin as they’re taken down mercilessly by Cabin 10.

(Jason shakes his head in disbelief there—he’s the first to gloat how Piper and Mike are powerful children of Aphrodite and Venus respectively, but the way they’ve whipped Cabin 10 into a _combat cabin_ just _amazes_ him.)

“Percy tells me you haven’t been sleeping properly,” Nico says. His voice is loud enough for Jason to hear, yet still so quiet that anyone in the vicinity probably thinks it’s just a squirrel.

The words cross Jason’s mind and he frowns. “Where did he hear that?”

“He sees you walking around at four in the morning. Sometimes you fly, sometimes you don’t. Sometimes,” Nico stops and stares pointedly at Jason, “you don’t come back until breakfast.”

Oh. Jason blinks wildly and begins a slow descent toward Nico.

“He’s worried.” Nico’s eyebrows furrow together, and he hesitates before asking, “Should I be worried?”

Maybe. The words, _Domain, Zeus, Father, Home, Home, Father, Mother, Zeus, Home, Domain, Sky, Falling, Zeus, Domain, Mother, Cold, Cold, Sky, Home_ —they run through Jason’s mind like a never ending triathlon, and he struggles to clear his mind at night.

But Nico might understand. Nico is more patient than people give him credit for, and is more sympathetic than most.

“Nico, I…”

They don’t get the chance to talk.

A rain of arrows fly towards them, Nico screams, “ _LOOK OUT!”_ and Jason quickly brings them both airborne.

Nico grunts, obviously not enthused with the fact that he’s twenty feet above ground, so Jason keeps shouting, _Sorry!_ over and over as he steers them towards the flag.

Percy is waiting for them, guarding it while only wearing the blue team’s chest plate. He smirks, Jason smirks back, and Nico rolls his eyes.

“You two are ridiculous,” Nico declares.

“We know,” Jason and Percy say together. They match grins.

Then they battle. Jason juts his gladius towards Percy and blasts a gust of wind in Percy’s face. Percy dodges the gladius but topples backwards. Instinctively, he takes water from the lake and hits Jason in the face—and the battle keeps going on from there, with the occasional commentary from Nico over Percy’s taunts.

“Dude,” Jason cackles, having the time of his life as he jabs Percy in the chest with his javelin-gladius. He sends a light electric jolt through his blade, and Percy undulates with it.

“ _Dude!_ ” Percy chortles back.

Eventually Piper and Annabeth charge through the forest and swipe the flag, and the battle is called off. Annabeth chides Nico for not getting the flag earlier on, and Nico shrugs, saying that the whole ordeal is, “ _Too simple._ ”

Jason and Nico end up side-by-side as the girls are lifted up by the rest of their team. Piper’s smile only makes Jason grin, and even Nico looks satisfied with their win.

“ _Ugh_ ,” Nico then says.

“What?” With concern, Jason cocks his head in Nico’s direction—and finds Nico frowning at him.

Then out of nowhere, Nico’s hands rattle Jason’s glasses off, blurring Jason’s vision momentarily before he pushes them back in place. “What’s the point in having these if you don’t even notice when they’re falling off your face?”

Jason shrugs. “I like it when you fix them for me.”

Nico pauses, his hands still pressed at Jason’s temples. He pulls away, the night too dark for Jason to realize Nico’s blushing.

**IV.**

Later that night, Nico swings by Jason’s cabin. He stares at the domed ceiling, looking all-too pale in the bright lights. Nico’s gotten healthier since the Battle with Gaea, but it still amazes Jason when he can just stare at Nico and pretend that they’re two regular mortals without a care in the world.

Out of nowhere, Nico sighs and plops down in front of Jason. His aviator’s jacket is long gone, and Jason realizes he misses how big it used to look over Nico’s shoulders. Nico looks nervous and cautious, but his eyes read with several emotions that can’t make it out of his mouth.

It’s then that Jason realizes Nico wants to _continue_ what they were talking about in the forest.

“Spill,” Nico says.

So Jason tells him. He’s wanted to talk to _someone_ about it—about meeting Zeus for the first time in his life, about how it messed with him. After meeting his mother, Jason was _sure_ of who he was, and Zeus even _praised_ him for everything Jason strived to be.

Before it all fell flat and with one word, Jason wasn’t sure his father would _ever_ come see him again. Would ever like him.

Nico’s eyebrows furrow together and he scoots closer to Jason on the floor.

“I’m afraid that I’m…going to be in my own element and then fall, because he’ll take it away from me.” Jason shivers, and he feels small. He feels abandoned, like the two year old wandering around in the Wolf House with no one to guide him. He always goes through with his promises, tried for a while to avoid his fate as a Son of Jupiter—then embraced it. The way Zeus praised him made Jason realize he’s always _wanted_ that praise, even when he didn’t want to be noticed.

But the feeling of completion lasted only seconds, replaced by an endless pit that Jason can’t climb out of.

“Has he done anything yet?” Nico asks quietly.

“No, thankfully.” Which makes Jason laugh. It’s an empty sound in his throat, and he rubs the sleep out of his eyes because he’s even more exhausted than he thought he was. “I sound silly, don’t I?”

“Jason…” Nico’s voice trails off. He doesn’t hold Jason’s hand, but stares at Jason. “You _do_ have family. Here.”

 _You should know that_ , the voice in the back of Jason’s mind scolds. Jason’s hands twitch on his lap and he finds himself staring at the ground. He never thought he’d be at the other side of Nico’s peptalk, but Jason’s realizing he _like_ s talking to Nico. _Especially_ about his feelings.

“I had fun at the Capture the Flag game tonight,” Nico decides. He hesitates before continuing, “But only because you had fun with me. Everyone here loves you.”

“You had fun?” Jason’s lips break into a smile, momentarily distracted enough to think, _mission accomplished._

“I did,” Nico confirms. He fiddles with a hole in his jeans. “If you _fall_ , then everyone here will catch you. _All of New Rome_ —they’ll catch you. I’ll catch you.”

Jason’s heart soars in his chest at the thought, and he stares at Nico in disbelief. “You would catch me?”

A hand reaches out for Jason’s discarded glasses to the right of him, and Nico places them on Jason’s face. “You fall down, and everyone else will pick you up because we know you would do the same for us. You work hard, Jason, for your relationships. I could talk to any demigod on camp and they would save you in a heartbeat.”

“But you would catch me too,” Jason repeats.

“Is that so hard to believe?” Nico arches an eyebrow.

“No.” Jason doesn’t hesitate in his answer. But—having Nico’s confirmation on the matter just makes him feel lighter. He smiles softly, feeling better already, and leans into Nico’s warmth. “Thank you. That makes me feel better.”

The edge of Nico’s lips curls into its own crisp smile before he looks away. “Yeah, well, someone has to keep you from breaking your glasses.”

Jason chews on the inside of his mouth. Feels himself flush. He nudges Nico in the shoulder. “Then I’m glad it’s you.”

He goes to bed later that night. Dreams perfectly, of shy touches and even shyer smiles.

**V.**

Once in a while, Nico will join in for campfire songs. He doesn’t always sing them—Will Solace whisks Nico away often to roast marshmallows and talk him up, while the rest of his siblings pipe in. The Hermes Cabin will try to strike deals with Nico for junk food or comic books. Jason catches Nico having a heated debate about Mythomagic with Clyde and Lou Ellen before bursting into laughter at their answers.

Nico promises to teach Jason the game someday, and Jason forever plans to hold him to it.

Eventually Will Solace breaks out the ukulele and announces that there’ll be a singalong contest. Jason’s been at camp long enough to know that _singalong_ ranges from cheesy songs to the Beatles, and the occasional screamo before Mr. D tells them to call it a night.

Reyna, Frank, and Hazel come to visit, and Nico hugs Hazel and Reyna immediately.

The old Argo crew gets meshed together around the campfire, Reyna, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel all holding hands as tightly as possible as laughter radiates through the warm Friday night. Jason finds himself squished on a log between Leo and Nico, high with happiness when he sees all of his friends. He fistbumps Percy at some point in the night, and they sway from side-to-side.

It’s Nico’s grin that makes it the best night of Jason’s life.

“Alright!” Will shouts, grinning from ear-to-ear too. He strums his ukulele, points it at the representatives from the Hecate, Apollo, Ares, and Demeter cabins, and then to the crew. “We’ll start off with one song! Sing all the verses or you’re screwed! Loser cabins do chores for the winner cabins for a week!”

Campers erupt cheers.

Will grins, and the festivities start.

_When Rome’s in ruins, we are the lions  
Free of the coliseums  
In poison places, we are anti-venom  
We’re the beginning of the end_

Piper laughs beautifully, while Percy fistpumps and declares, “ _I LOVE THIS SONG!”_

Will keeps strumming and nods his head towards the Argo crew. Jason flashes a grin down to Nico, who grins back because, who knew, Nico di Angelo appreciates Fall Out Boy like the rest them.

_Tonight the foxes hunt the hounds  
It’s all over now before it has begun  
We’ve already won!_

Percy stands up and sings so horribly that Jason thinks they should knock him out, but he’s too busy doubling over with laughter because he _loves_ this. Annabeth tugs at her boyfriend’s sleeve, Reyna rolls her eyes in disbelief, and she and Nico meet gazes half-way.

_We are wild, we are like young volcanoes  
We are wild, Americana, exotica  
Do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby?  
Yeah!_

_Come on make it easy, say I never mattered  
Run it up the flagpole  
We will teach you how to make boys next door  
Out of assholes_

At some point in the night, Jason remembers Nico grabbing his hand or the other way around. He’s pressed firmly against Nico, so close that all he wants to do is _stay like this_ and hear Nico laugh in his ear. Jason watches the fire reflect off of Nico’s mop of hair, molding around the contour of his beautiful face, and a grin that just speaks a thousand words.

Then—Nico ducks down on the ground. He picks Jason’s glasses up from the rubble, dusts it off with his shirt, and places them back on Jason’s face.

Huh. Jason blinks.

Nico kisses him. It’s a quick peck—a shy one, which Jason’s dreamt about for a long time now. He pulls away, the fire highlighting the red in his cheeks, and stares up to Jason uncertainly. “Is that okay?”

And Jason can’t deny that he’s suddenly on cloud nine. He reaches over, cups Nico’s face softly, and kisses him more firmly. “That’s _totally_ okay.”

Nico sighs at the touch—leans into it, even. And the rest of the night is _perfect._

_We are wild, we are like young volcanoes  
We are wild, Americana, exotica  
Do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby?  
Yeah!_

**+1.**

“Jason. Why don’t you just get contacts?” Nico plucks them off the ground and rolls his eyes. He dusts them off on his ( _Jason’s_ ) hoodie and hands them back to his boyfriend when Jason finally lands.

“I like the way they look.” Jason shrugs and takes a moment to admire Nico wearing his hoodie for the winter. On Nico’s head rests an adorable Sherpa hat and a matching scarf that Reyna and Hazel pitched into get him. It all looks ridiculous—and _adorable_ on him. “Plus it’s like my own windshield when I fly. Bugs don’t get in my eyes.”

“Fair point.” Though Nico rolls his eyes. “You’re lucky that they’re made out of imperial gold.”

“Why?”

Nico points to the sky. “We were _fifty feet above ground.”_

“Oh. Right.” Jason takes that moment to inspect his glasses. Not even a scratch. The frames look perfect as ever. In a brief pause, he stares at Nico, whose cheeks are flushed red with heat. A grin curls over Jason’s lip.

“ _What_ , Jaso—seriously _?_ ”

Jason pushes the glasses onto Nico’s face. The imperial gold highlights Nico’s pale skin, frames making those madman eyes even glossier. Nico stares at him despondently, with a cross of _Are you kidding me?_ and _I’m going to kill you._

(Sometimes Jason calls that look, ‘ _I’m going to kid you._ ’)

“You look cute,” Jason says. And boy, Nico does. Even when he’s frowning at Jason like Jason’s lost his mind.

With a huff, Nico takes them off his face and shoves the glasses into Jason’s chest. “They look better on you.”

With a coy grin, Jason puts the glasses back on his face. He slinks a hand over Nico’s waist, arches over, and kisses his boyfriend. Nico kisses back, but Jason could tell Nico still thought Jason was a crazy person. When they pull apart, Jason keeps his arm securely under Nico’s waist and feels Nico squeeze the back of his jacket.

“Thanks,” Jason murmurs. 


End file.
